Manhattan is the most expensive place to live in the entire U.S. (2024)

NYC’s tony borough takes the top spot when it comes to cost of living.

We all know Manhattan is hella expensive, but it’s apparentlythe most expensive place to live in the entire country. The cost of living is more than double the national average, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research’sCost of Living Index.

First reported by CNBC, the report states that Manhattan’scost of living is 24% more than Honolulu’s, the second-most expensive urban area in the U.S. and 31% higher than San Francisco’s, the third-most expensive city.

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This means that if you live in Manhattan, you are paying more to live there than anyone else is paying in their respective cities.

The rank was given by looking athousing, utilities, groceries, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods or services, CNBC says. This data was collected between January 1 and March 31, this year.

These are the top 10most expensive urban areas, according to the analysis:

1. New York (Manhattan)
2. Honolulu
3. San Francisco
4. New York (Brooklyn)
5. Orange County, California
6. Los Angeles (Long Beach)
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Boston
9. Seattle
10. San Diego

Housing is 4.8 times the national average in Manhattan—wealthy residents andlimited space push up prices. Plus,Manhattan has the highest “miscellaneous living costs,” like entertainment, alcohol and clothing. Anecdotally, grocery expenses are absurdly high.

If you think the outer boroughs are any better, you’d be wrong.Brooklyn comes in as the fourth most expensive place to live in the U.S., Queens is the 13th most expensive and Long Island’s Nassau County is the 15th.

But we knew this already, right? We live here because we love it. Not because it’s easy.

• Shaye Weaver
  Editor, Time Out New York

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